Sophisticated electronic devices are becoming more and more commonplace. These electronic devices include computing devices such as notebook/portable computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs), communication devices such as wireless telephones, and media devices such as CD, DVD and MP3 players. These and other electronic devices commonly include a variety of sensitive components. One issue with these electronic devices is their ability to withstand physical impacts to the system. One common source of impacts are falls, either inadvertent or intentional. Portable devices are commonly carried, and thus are commonly dropped. The force of the resulting impact can damage sensitive portions of the device.
Some electronic devices are capable of better withstanding an impact if put into a protective mode. For example, with devices that include hard drives, the hard drives can better withstand the shock of an impact if the drive is parked. In these types of devices, it is beneficial to detect when a fall is occurring such that protective action can be taken to reduce the potential negative results of the impact such as a loss of data or damage caused to the disk.
Unfortunately, prior methods for detecting a fall have had limited success. For example, some methods have relied upon complex angular velocity calculations, and are not applicable to devices without spinning disks. Other methods have been limited in their ability to detect falls that are accompanied with other motions.
Thus, what is needed is an improved system and method for detecting a fall in an electronic device that provides fall detection in reliable and efficient manner.